Why is Google really removing links to news articles in Europe?

On Wednesday, journalists from both The Guardian and the BBC complained that stories from their outlets had disappeared from Google(s goog) search results within Europe. There is no good reason for this to be happening.

Ah, you might ask, what about that ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that Google must remove results if the information is out-of-date and people complain about it? That’s clearly central to this whole affair, but it still doesn’t explain why Google is removing these specific results. The ruling, you see, doesn’t order it to do that.

Here’s the crucial part of that ruling which, remember, only established that Google had to abide by existing EU law (emphasis is mine):

As the data subject may, in the light of his fundamental rights under Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter, request that the information in question no longer be made available to…